Soskin retired Thursday after more than 15 years at the Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond
RICHMOND — The nation’s oldest active park ranger is hanging up her Smokey hat at the age of 100.
Betty Reid Soskin retired Thursday after more than 15 years at the Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, California, the National Park Service announced.
Soskin “spent her last day providing an interpretive program to the public and visiting with coworkers,” a Park Service statement said.
She led tours at the park and museum honoring the women who worked in factories during wartime and shared her own experience as a Black woman during the conflict. She worked for the U.S. Air Force in 1942 but quit after learning that “she was employed only because her superiors believed she was white,” according to a Park Service biography.
FILE - National Park Service Ranger Betty Reid Soskin smiles during an interview at Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, Calif., July 12, 2016. Soskin, the nation's oldest active park ranger, is hanging up her smokey hat at the age of 100. She retired Thursday, March 31, 2022, after more than 15 years at the park, the National Park Service announced. Soskin "spent her last day providing an interpretive program to the public and visiting with coworkers," a Park Service statement said. (AP Photo/Ben Margot, File)
FILE - Betty Reid Soskin, a 94-year-old National Park Service Ranger, is pictured at the visitors center of Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front National Historical Park where she works in Richmond, Calif., July 26, 2016. Soskin, the nation's oldest active park ranger, is hanging up her smokey hat at the age of 100. She retired Thursday, March 31, 2022, after more than 15 years at the park, the National Park Service announced. Soskin "spent her last day providing an interpretive program to the public and visiting with coworkers," a Park Service statement said. (AP Photo/Ben Margot, File)
FILE - Betty Reid Soskin, a 94-year-old National Park Service Ranger, is pictured at the visitors center of Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front National Historical Park where she works in Richmond, Calif., July 26, 2016. Soskin, the nation's oldest active park ranger, is hanging up her smokey hat at the age of 100. She retired Thursday, March 31, 2022, after more than 15 years at the park, the National Park Service announced. Soskin "spent her last day providing an interpretive program to the public and visiting with coworkers," a Park Service statement said. (AP Photo/Ben Margot, File)
FILE – National Park Service Ranger Betty Reid Soskin smiles during an interview at Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, Calif., July 12, 2016. Soskin, the nation’s oldest active park ranger, is hanging up her smokey hat at the age of 100. She retired Thursday, March 31, 2022, after more than 15 years at the park, the National Park Service announced. Soskin “spent her last day providing an interpretive program to the public and visiting with coworkers,” a Park Service statement said. (AP Photo/Ben Margot, File)
EL SOBRANTE, CA - SEPTEMBER 22: Betty Reid Soskin is photographed during a ceremony to celebrate her 100th birthday and the naming of the Betty Reid Soskin Middle School in honor of the nation's oldest living National Park Ranger on Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2021, in El Sobrante, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
EL SOBRANTE, CA - SEPTEMBER 22: Betty Reid Soskin is photographed during a ceremony to celebrate her 100th birthday and the naming of the Betty Reid Soskin Middle School in honor of the nation's oldest living National Park Ranger on Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2021, in El Sobrante, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
EL SOBRANTE, CA - SEPTEMBER 22: Birthday cards and gifts are photographed during a ceremony to celebrate the 100th birthday and the naming of the Betty Reid Soskin Middle School in honor of the nation's oldest living National Park Ranger on Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2021, in El Sobrante, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
EL SOBRANTE, CA - SEPTEMBER 22: Betty Reid Soskin poses for photographs during a ceremony to celebrate her 100th birthday and the naming of the Betty Reid Soskin Middle School in honor of the nation's oldest living National Park Ranger on Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2021, in El Sobrante, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
EL SOBRANTE, CA - SEPTEMBER 22: Betty Reid Soskin visits with her great great niece Melani Armstrong ,3, during a ceremony to celebrate her 100th birthday and the naming of the Betty Reid Soskin Middle School in honor of the nation's oldest living National Park Ranger on Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2021, in El Sobrante, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
EL SOBRANTE, CA - SEPTEMBER 22: Betty Reid Soskin is photographed during a ceremony to celebrate her 100th birthday and the naming of the Betty Reid Soskin Middle School in honor of the nation's oldest living National Park Ranger on Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2021, in El Sobrante, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
EL SOBRANTE, CA - SEPTEMBER 22: A birthday cake is photographed during a ceremony to celebrate the 100th birthday and the naming of the Betty Reid Soskin Middle School in honor of the nation's oldest living National Park Ranger on Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2021, in El Sobrante, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
Congressman Mark DeSaulnier (CA-11) listens as Betty Reid Soskin speaks during a ceremony recognizing Soskin's lifetime of achievements at the Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historic Park in Richmond, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 7, 2016. (Kristopher Skinner/Bay Area News Group)
RICHMOND, CA - JANUARY 14: National Park Ranger Betty Reid Soskin, left, leaves with fellow ranger Kelli English after greeting visitors at the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, Calif., on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2020. Soskin, 98, the nation's oldest ranger, returned to work part-time on Wednesday after suffering a stroke five months ago. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
RICHMOND, CA – JANUARY 14: National Park Ranger Betty Reid Soskin, left, is greeted by National Park Service Superintendent Tom Leatherman, at the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, Calif., on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2020. Soskin, 98, the nation’s oldest ranger, returned to work part-time on Wednesday after suffering a stroke five months ago. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
(Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
RICHMOND, CA – JANUARY 14: National Park Ranger Betty Reid Soskin greets visitors at the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, Calif., on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2020. Soskin, 98, the nation’s oldest ranger, returned to work part-time on Wednesday after suffering a stroke five months ago. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
DUBLIN, CA – JANUARY 14: National Park Ranger Betty Reid Soskin hangs up a call on her Apple watch at the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, Calif., on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2020. Soskin, 98, the nation’s oldest ranger, returned to work part-time on Wednesday after suffering a stroke five months ago. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
DUBLIN, CA – JANUARY 14: National Park Ranger Betty Reid Soskin’s hat rests on her cane as she greets visitors at the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, Calif., on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2020. Soskin, 98, the nation’s oldest ranger, returned to work part-time on Wednesday after suffering a stroke five months ago. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
RICHMOND, CA – JANUARY 14: National Park Ranger Betty Reid Soskin, right, talks with fellow ranger Kelli English after greeting visitors at the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, Calif., on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2020. Soskin, 98, the nation’s oldest ranger, returned to work part-time on Wednesday after suffering a stroke five months ago. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
RICHMOND, CA – JANUARY 14: National Park Ranger Betty Reid Soskin, left, prepares to head home after talking with fellow ranger Kelli English and volunteer Charlotte Johnston, from left, at the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, Calif., on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2020. Soskin, 98, the nation’s oldest ranger, returned to work part-time on Wednesday after suffering a stroke five months ago. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
RICHMOND, CA – JANUARY 14: National Park Ranger Betty Reid Soskin, left, leaves with fellow ranger Kelli English after greeting visitors at the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, Calif., on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2020. Soskin, 98, the nation’s oldest ranger, returned to work part-time on Wednesday after suffering a stroke five months ago. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
RICHMOND, CA – JANUARY 14: National Park Ranger Betty Reid Soskin, left, signs her book for visitor Gloria Bates Edwards at the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, Calif., on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2020. Soskin, 98, the nation’s oldest ranger, returned to work part-time on Wednesday after suffering a stroke five months ago. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
Betty Reid Soskin is the Mt. Diablo Peace and Justice Center’s Peace and Justice Advocate of the Year, which she will receive at the center’s 2016 Local Heroes Awards on Oct. 22, in Walnut Creek.
National Parks Ranger Betty Reid Soskin, 92, is photographed at the Homefront National Park in Richmond, Calif., on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2013. (Dan Honda/Bay Area News Group)
Betty Reid Soskin, the 94-year-old ranger who was brutally attacked inside her home two weeks ago, addresses the media during a news conference announcing her return to work at the Rosie the Riveter/WWII Homefront National Historical Park visitor center in Richmond, Calif., on Tuesday, July 12, 2016. (Kristopher Skinner/Bay Area News Group)
Betty Reid Soskin, a park ranger with the National Park Service, shows the replacement medal she received from Sally Jewell, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, at the 72nd annual anniversary of the Port Chicago explosion at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial in Port Chicago, Calif., on Sunday July 17, 2016. Soskin was given a replacement medal from President Obama at the event after she was robbed and beaten at her home on June 27. The 1944 explosion of a munitions ship killed over 300 people, most of them African American enlisted men who were assigned the hazardous job of unloading explosives. (Susan Tripp Pollard/Bay Area News Group)
Betty Reid Soskin, 96, the oldest active ranger in the National Park Service at her book release party for her memoir - “Sign My Name to Freedom†- at Geoffreyâ€s Inner Circle on 2-21-18, Oakland, California. (Photo by Paul Kuroda)
Julianna Edgely, 17, hugs Betty Reid Soskin, 96, with mother Karen Zimmerman at right. Soskin is the oldest active ranger in the National Park Service. She was at her book release party for her memoir - ÒSign My Name to FreedomÓ - at GeoffreyÕs Inner Circle on 2-21-18, Oakland, California.
Photo by Paul Kuroda
Betty Reid Soskin, 96, (center) sits in a crowd who just watched a short documentary about her. She is the oldest active ranger in the National Park Service at her book release party for her memoir - ÒSign My Name to FreedomÓ - at GeoffreyÕs Inner Circle on 2-21-18, Oakland, California.
Photo by Paul Kuroda
Paloma Woods and Alyssa Villenveva reading Betty Reid Soskin's book- ÒSign My Name to FreedomÓ - at GeoffreyÕs Inner Circle on 2-21-18, Oakland, California.
Photo by Paul Kuroda
Janell Hampton meets Betty Reid Soskin, 96, the oldest active ranger in the National Park Service at her book release party for her memoir - ÒSign My Name to FreedomÓ - at GeoffreyÕs Inner Circle on 2-21-18, Oakland, California.
Photo by Paul Kuroda
“Being a primary source in the sharing of that history – my history – and giving shape to a new national park has been exciting and fulfilling,” Soskin said in the Park Service statement. “It has proven to bring meaning to my final years.”
Soskin won a temporary Park Service position at the age of 84 and became a permanent Park Service employee in 2011. She celebrated her 100th birthday last September.
“Betty has made a profound impact on the National Park Service and the way we carry out our mission,” Director Chuck Sams said. “Her efforts remind us that we must seek out and give space for all perspectives so that we can tell a more full and inclusive history of our nation.”
Soskin was born Betty Charbonnet in Detroit in 1921 but recalled surviving the devastating Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 while living with her Creole family in New Orleans, according to the Park Service biography.
Her family then moved to Oakland, California, and Soskin remained in the San Francisco Bay Area, where in 1945 she and her first husband founded one of the first Black-owned record stores in the area, the biography said.
She also was a civil rights activist and took part in meetings to develop a general management plan for the Home Front park. She has received several honors.
She was named California Woman of the Year in 1995.
In 2015, Soskin received a presidential coin from President Barack Obama after she lit the National Christmas tree at the White House.
In June 2016, she was awakened in her home by a robber who punched her repeatedly in the face, dragged her out of her bedroom and beat her before making off with the coin and other items. Soskin, then 94, recovered and returned to work just weeks after the attack. The coin was replaced.
Soskin also was honored with entry into the Congressional Record. Glamour Magazine named her woman of the year in 2018.
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s Inner Circle on 2-21-18, Oakland, California. (Photo by Paul Kuroda)
